Manchester United have fired a warning to their rivals with a brutal 9-0 thrashing of Southampton at Old Trafford and thus equalling the record for the biggest win in Premier League history on Tuesday. The win has moved Man United on equal points with leaders Manchester City who have played two games less and can open up the gap against when they take the field on Wednesday.
There were seven different scorers for the hosts with Southampton enduring a disastrous start when their 19-year-old debutant Alexandre Jankewitz was handed a red card in the second minute for a rash challenge on Scott McTominay. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani and an own goal from Jan Bednarek powered Man United to a 4-0 lead in the first half itself.
Anthony Martial then came off the bench to score twice before McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and Daniel James’ injury time goal completed the rout in the second half. This is the second straight season that Southampton have lost by a similar margin after Leicester City spanked them for a 9-0 win during the 2019-20 season.
The Saints have now lost four straight games in the ongoing season and dropped to the 12th spot in the standings despite a sparkling start to the season that saw them beating defending champions Liverpool in January.
Man United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was chuffed to bits with the ‘ruthless’ show his team put up. “They were ruthless, they drove it on. Harry [Maguire], Victor [Lindelof], David [de Gea], Scott played it quickly into their half. They wanted it more and more,” Solskjaer aftet the match.
“When you play football you have to make the most of it. [They] played like it could have been their last game so very pleased with everyone. What I liked about it was the hunger and attitude to do the right things, get better, practice good habits, that’s the only way to get better.
“You can see loads of things we are working on. We want to be a bit unpredictable. The players did that excellently, freedom and imagination, played down the sides, it was positive and something we can look at,” he added.
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl rued the early sending-off that pushed his injury-hit team on the backfoot.
“He punished the guys who were on the pitch. They were helpless after he is sent off,” said Hasenhuttl. “You know the 90 minutes can be very long against a team of this quality. The result is there and we have to live with the result again. It doesn’t reflect what we did this season so far. It’s hard to explain. We have to live with this again.”